June 20, 2017

Abu 'l-Faraj al-Isbahani (d. 967 CE), author of The Book of Songs, complained of mice and described a cat (meter: khafīf):

On deadly watchmen with arching backs I call for aid
against a host with tiny teeth and whiplike tails.
Created for malevolence, nastiness and ruin,
their degradation dates back to Creation itself.
The holes they bore in ceilings, walls and floors
are as galling as bodily ulcers.
Anything comestible, they consume it.
Nothing drinkable is safe.
And they know all about gnawing clothes.
My heart is pitted by the holes they gnaw.
What brings my anguish to a pause has Turkish whiskers
and a blue coat with leopard spots.
In make and manners he is a lion of the thicket.
A lion of the thicket! think all who spy him.
Into corners of the room and along the ceiling,
his gaze is fixed on every [mouse’s] door.
He keeps his claws in scabbards, up until
the landing of his pounce upon the prey.
When he voids himself, it is in private.
None know where it happens but the dirt.
Some folks play dress-up games with him, put jewelry
on him, and with henna dye him first and last.
Sometimes he struts in bridegroom’s finery,
other times they doll him like a bride.
Such a lovable companion! and worthy as a friend
above the common run of friendship, and beyond it.

June 5, 2017

As an abundant quantity of water is called ghamr ("ample"), so is a horse devoted to running. As a swift-running watercourse is called yaʿbūb ("rushing"), so is a swift-running horse. As a well that won't run dry is called jamūm ("replenished"), so is a horse whose every run is followed by more running. As an uninterrupted series of cloudbursts is called al-saḥḥ ("the flow") of rain, a horse is called misaḥḥ ("effluent") if it runs uninterruptedly. If lightness and swiftness are combined in a horse's gait, then it is called fayḍ ("overflowing") and sakb ("outpouring") after the overflowing and outpouring of water.

As the sea's water is inexhaustible, a horse that never tires of running is called a baḥr ("sea"). The Prophet, God's blessings and peace be upon him, was the first to use this expression when he said of his mount: "I find [this horse] to be a baḥr." And so the name Baḥr was given to that horse.